The Okito Checker Cabinet is to lead a sale of magic memorabilia at Potter & Potter in Chicago on February 7.
The lot, which is estimated at $7,000-9,000, was built by Tobias "Theo" Bamberg (aka Okito) in around 1947.
 Theo Bamberg built the Checker Cabinet during the 1940s |
The elegant trick allows the magician to replace a stack of checkers with a glass of rice.
Okito (1875-1963) was among the most famous magicians of his era and performed for audiences around the world.
He retired in 1909, opening a prop shop in New York.
The tricks he manufactured there are in high demand among collectors today. The present lot is an exceptional example.
Another Bamberg illusion, a mat trick he used onstage in the early 1900s, made $16,000 at Potter & Potter in April last year.
A performance contract for Chung Ling Soo, aka William E Robinson, is valued at $2,500-3,500.
The Western obsession with Asian culture at the turn of the century led to a boom in European and American magicians presenting themselves as Chinese.
The lot contracts Robinson to "produce his Usual Entertainment twice nightly" at Bolton's Grand Theatre from December 2-7, 1918.
A pair of vanishing lamps produced in 2003 by modern magic trick builder Carl Williams carries an estimate of $2,000-3,000.
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